Because He Died
by darkestboy
Summary: As Peri starts to travel with the Doctor, she finds a certain item that forces her new friend to open up about one of the people he used to travel with. Set in between Planet Of Fire and The Caves Of Androzani.


**Name: **Because He Died  
**Characters:** 5th Doctor, Peri Brown and Adric.  
**Synopsis:** As Peri starts to travel with the Doctor, she finds a certain item that forces her new friend to open up about one of the people he used to travel with. Set in between _Planet Of Fire_ and _The Caves Of Androzani_.

"Now I'll never know if I was right."

Those had been the final words that Adric had spoken before he died. The Doctor hadn't quite heard them as such but he had dreamed them once or twice. He had seen the face of his companion before he had died and the Doctor jolted awake, realising that he was safe in the TARDIS.

"Maybe I'll see what Peri's up to," the Doctor said, walking past the young woman's room and realising that the door was open, the light was on and she wasn't there.

Peri couldn't for the life of her get any decent shut eye either. She had been dreaming about Howard, Turlough, the Master, Kamelion and that planet she had been on instead of Lanzerote and now she was travelling in a strange ship that looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside with a man she barely knew but was intrigued by nonetheless.

"Peri," he called out, to which he got no answer in response.

The Doctor walked along the long halls of the TARDIS, calling out for Peri but was having no luck in trying to find her and then a figure he hadn't expected to see crept up alongside him, startling him as well.

"Adric?" The Doctor's brow furrowed as he looked at the young man standing before him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's nice," Adric muttered sarcastically. "And to think, I sacrificed myself for you, Tegan and Nyssa."

"How are you here?" The Doctor ignored the young man's flippancy as he circled Adric, gently touching his shoulder to see if he was real. "I'm dreaming. I must be."

"Yes, because I possibly couldn't be alive in any real way," Adric replied with more sarcasm. "Although there was that time both Nyssa and Tegan saw me but you were a little distracted if I recall."

"That was the Master," the Doctor replied a little sharper than he intended. "And you weren't real then and you're not now, so I am dreaming."

"Nice to know I affect your subconscious then," Adric smiled with approval. "When you regenerated, you treated me like an unpleasant odour you couldn't wait to get rid of -,"

"- No I didn't," the Doctor interrupted him before his mind went towards another thought. "Where's Peri?"

"Wow, did I really matter that little to you?" Adric said as before they both knew it, both the former companion and the Doctor were in the control room. "I suppose we're all replaceable in the end. Even Tegan and Nyssa couldn't keep you interested for long. I dread to think what'll happen to Peri when you tire of her."

"I didn't say that, Adric," the Doctor tried to reason with his former friend but he could see that the boy was now pressing some buttons and the TARDIS doors swung open. "What are you doing?"

"Replacing you," Adric smiled sinisterly as he began to put the Doctor out of the TARDIS. Once the Doctor was falling outside of the vortex, Adric closed the doors in satisfaction.

"This incarnation, I don't it like it so much."

The Doctor jolted awake with a fright and standing at the bottom of his bed before him was Peri, looking concerned as she went a bit closer towards him.

"Are you okay?" Peri went to check his forehead. "You're sweating."

"I'm fine, just a bad dream," the Doctor said quickly, attempting to sound reassuring but failing miserably in it. "I thought you were missing for a moment."

"I couldn't sleep," Peri admitted, sitting on the bed as the Doctor remained in it. "So, I decided to go for a bit of a walk around the place. I ended up in something called a Zero room before I heard you calling out. Doctor, who's Adric?"

"Adric?"

"I heard you calling out the name," Peri said, wanting to take the issue a little further but also making the decision to word it in a way that didn't seem like she was pressuring her friend into revealing more than he wanted to. "An old friend?"

"Yes, an old friend," the Doctor admitted, knowing there was no point in denying it. "He used to be."

"Used to be?" Peri saw a grim look on the Doctor's face. "How come he isn't anymore?"

"Because he died, Peri," the Doctor said in a low voice. "He died saving the world from the Cybermen and I nearly forgot about him. Things weren't exactly easy between us. I suppose I could've been more patient with him."

"Oh," Peri replied and from the look on her face, the Doctor could tell she was somewhat shocked by that admission. "Would you forget me if I died?"

"No," the Doctor replied a little sharply. "And I won't forget Adric ever again either."

"That's all I need to hear," Peri smiled and took her leave of the Doctor's room, leaving him to wonder about the future they both were going to have.

- The End -


End file.
